Hight tone. Tightness After Eating. Hypersensitivity.

05-14-2014, 03:44 PM

I am a C6-7 quadriplegic for 20 years. I have written here before trying to find an answer for the problem that I'm having, but I have still not found a solution.

About two years ago, I started feeling a tightness around chest level in the deep muscles that are in that area. It would occur after I drank or ate something. I had an upper scope done and also a colonoscopy. The scope showed that I had some inflammation, and the recommendation was to not take any NSAIDs. I never really took any anyway.

Fast-forward two years. I have gotten progressively worse. It is on my upper torso. When I talk it gets tighter and my voice is kind of gravelly if I'm not assertive and speak louder. My vision is foggy (note that this happened a year ago also and I had my eyes checked. They were fine. My vision got better over the last year. I recently went to a chiropractor that used an impulse IQ unit on my back and the vision problems came back about a week later.) and I have ringing in my ears. I know that my back is out in about three spots. Nipple line, mid torso and lower. After I take a bite of food, high muscle tone immediately kicks in and lasts for a while. It sucks eating anymore. I've tried to eliminate foods but there doesn't seem to be any pattern, although if I eat sugar it is worse and I really feel jacked up fast. It's not pleasant. I've also lost 25 pounds over the last two years and weigh the same that I did in eighth grade. I believe it was a loss of muscle. Last year, I had an MRI done and it showed that things were okay. I do have stuff going on so maybe that's causing it? Most of it is in the lower area though and the tightness kicks in higher after I eat.

I have a baclofen pump and they looked at the catheter line a couple of years ago and it was fine.

I have regular bowel movements that seem okay and I don't feel indigestion - it's just that extremely high muscle tone.

I always had some tightness in my upper body for 18 years, but this is totally uncomfortable, depressing, frustrating...

I'm leery of taking probiotics and I don't need Miralax... Food seems to go through okay.

Also, my body recently changed to where that tone kicks up if I put warm water on my hands or a heating bag around my neck. Whereas, those things used to help. I'm sure this is probably all due to me being an incomplete injury and it totally messed up autonomic nervous system. Lovely.

I'm not a hypochondriac. I just need this time to stop.
Any ideas are welcome.

Have you seen an SCI spasticity specialist? The baclofen pump will not work this high so your options would be to take tizanidine or to other with it or if isolated muscles and consider botox of phenol injections to selected muscles. Are you on flex bolus doses of baclofen- sometimes these help those with higher level spasticity.

The SCI-Nurses are advanced practice nurses specializing in SCI/D care. They are available to answer questions, provide education, and make suggestions which you should always discuss with your physician/primary health care provider before implementing. Medical diagnosis is not provided, nor do the SCI-Nurses provide nursing or medical care through their responses on the CareCure forums.

Comment

I'm not qualified to offer a diagnosis, but what you describe sounds like the symptoms I experience with SPMS. I'm reluctant to try to guide you, but you might look at www.cpnhelp.com for suggestions. Vanderbilt U has a protocol for treating MS as a bacterial infection...it begins with N-Acetyl-Cysteine as an empirical test for the bacteria. For me, the blurred vision and most of the body cramping has disappeared. I've only just begun the protocol, but I have seen some improvement.

If...big if...there is any sound science to the CPn theory, people with already stressed spinal cords would be prime candidates.